


My Lover's Keeper

by AderaReam



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M, Magic Revealed, Merlin's Magic Revealed, Soul Bond, Soul Magic, Tags May Change, Violence, in progress, temporarily dark!Merlin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-26
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-05-03 10:52:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5287895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AderaReam/pseuds/AderaReam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A girl bursts into the Great Hall claiming that she can rip a person's soul from their body and that she will leave Arthur a lifeless doll. What happens when Merlin gets in the way, and her spell is not what she thought it was?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Entrance

The Feast was just winding down and people were leaving for their own rooms when a small, dirty young woman burst through the doors of the Great Hall. All chatter ceased when her eyes glowed orange and the doors slammed shut behind her. All of the knights, guards, most of the lords, Arthur, and Uther went to draw their swords but were forestalled by a word and another flash of orange in the girls irises. They all struggled in vain to get their swords out of their scabbards.

  
Merlin, who was off to the side, preparing to offer discrete magical assistance, privately wondered what that spell was, it would save him so much effort. He scowled when the girl pointed her hand at Arthur and called out:

  
“You! Soulless wretch who would destroy innocents. I will show you what you are.” Then she turned to Uther, keeping her hand pointed towards Arthur. “I will show you as well. You will know the despair so many others have known when I turn your son into a lifeless doll. When I rip the soul from his very body but leave him alive, you will all know!” She crowed in triumph.

  
Merlin was thunderstruck. He faltered, looking from the girl to Gaius, who seemed just as perplexed as he was. Could that be possible? Could she really tear out a persons soul? It seemed Uther was having the same problem.

  
“What you propose is ludicrous!” He roared, still trying to remove his sword from its sheath while not taking his eyes off the girl.

  
She just smirked at him.

  
“There is no way to sever a soul from a body and leave it alive. You are nothing but a fool, girl.” He scoffed.

  
“Oh, you really think so?” She replied, smirk widening to full grin. “Because I freed this spell from the depths of the archives of the Fisher King himself!” Her voice rang out across the stunned Hall. Uther abandoned his quest to draw his sword and sat down heavily in his seat. Gaius had gone paler than the moon or an enraged Morgana.

Merlin was panicking. The Fisher King had almost unparalleled magical knowledge, there was every chance that he did in fact have a spell that would cut the soul from the body. Arthur…

  
“So, you are saying you braved the perilous lands on your own to regain this knowledge? I must say it seems a bit far fetched.” Arthur spoke as he stood, giving the girl a disbelieving once over. Merlin wanted to shout at the prat for making himself an easier target.

  
The girl bristled. “Shows what you know. The curse on the Perilous Lands has been lifting slowly. All it needs now to make it whole is a powerful sorcerer to rule it. I take this task upon myself to both prove that I am worthy of that throne and to overthrow the tyrant before us now.”

  
That was news to Merlin, but it was quickly shelved because the girl had started to chant. Her eyes were glowing a steady orange now and there was a whirlwind of magic forming around her. All of the knights who tried to reach her were buffeted back by the wind. The wind picked at the girl's hair and tattered dress, making it fly up around her and making her look wild, dangerous.

  
As her chanting increased in volume sweat broke out on her forehead and she threw her hands out against some invisible force. Merlin did not think there was anything his magic could do against this, at least, not in time.

  
The last word of her spell rang out and there was a thunderclap as a beam of light shot towards Arthur. Merlin threw himself bodily in front of it, and only heard Arthur shout “Merlin! No!” Before he was consumed by fire.


	2. Q and A part 1

All of the guards, the knights, the courtiers, and the servants were frozen.  The girl had slumped to her knees, worn through and reeling from both the spell and the fact that she had failed to hit her mark. She stared with unseeing eyes at Arthur.

Arthur stared uncomprehendingly at Merlin who was doubled over at his feet screaming as if, well, as if his soul was being torn out.

Merlin’s screams of agony grew louder and more heart wrenching and he began to glow. The golden glow permeated the air around him stretching out to light even the dimmest corner of the room and still he howled like a dying wolf.

Arthur could not take it anymore and rushed around the high table to his manservant. As soon as he touched the other man, though, the glow snapped into one, blinding line going from Merlin up to the ceiling. Merlin was shaking, there were tears pouring from his eyes and snot leaking out his nose. He could not see Arthur or anyone else and his screams turned hoarse and guttural.

The line connecting his manservant to the sky somehow grew even brighter, and Arthur put his free hand up to shield his eyes from the light. Then with another thunderclap, and a sound like paper being shredded, the line snapped.

Merlin slumped, boneless and soundless to the floor.

Arthur closed his eyes, fighting the pain and horror that were threatening to claw their way out of his throat. When he opened them again, it was to Merlin attempting to sit up, looking about as coordinated as a poorly made puppet. And all Arthur could see after that was red.

He turned to the girl still sitting in the center of the Great Hall. She had done this. She had done this vile thing. Had torn out a man’s, the best man’s, soul and she would pay dearly for it. Arthur was absently glad to discover that he could draw his sword, it would make this easier. He almost wished he could not, then it would be slower. He took a step towards the girl but was halted by a tug on his sleeve.

“Should her punishment not be for me to decide?” Merlin’s voice was like a cold shock. Arthur dropped his sword, and spun around to face his friend who was getting to his feet.

“Merlin!” He exclaimed, dumbstruck. The cry was taken up by Gwen and the Knights, as they all rushed towards him. Gwaine got there first and swept Merlin up in a bone crushing hug.

“I always knew you were lucky mate, but I did not think how lucky! You scared the shit ot of me thinking that you had died or that her spell had worked and you were just a soulless-”

“It did work.” Everyone froze again. Gwaine set Merlin down and looked at him nervously.

“But, mate, you are alright. You seemed like you were in pain but that has passed, yeah? You are fine.” Everyone was confused, but if anyone had been looking they would have noticed Lancelot eyeing Merlin speculatively. Merlin only had eyes for the girl.

“It did work.” He repeated. He flicked a glance to Arthur and Uther. “Is her punishment mine?” Arthur turned to Uther, who nodded mutely, still as stunned as the rest. “Thank you, Your Majesty.” And then he grinned.

That grin was terrible. It had none of its usual warmth. It was a cold, hard, cruel thing just verging on the edge of manic.

His eyes are black. Arthur noticed, still stunned by the depths of rage and ice in that one expression.

Merlin glided (glided!) forward to stand in front of the girl. She looked up at him absently then shrank back, snapping back to herself as if struck.

“I will admit, I am at a bit of a loss as to what to do with you. So, let us take stock, shall we?” The girl whimpered, Merlin continued. “You are not very clever, are you.” It was not a question. “You took a spell without knowing the cost, or what it actually did. You are a fool to run in here with nothing but a half researched spell that is much too much for you and delusions of grandeur.” Merlin crouched in front of her and gently took her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him. “Shall I tell you what this spell actually is?” He asked. She trembled, eyes filling with tears. He continued, speaking softly. “This spell rips out every part of a person that would make them a good person. Kindness, charity, generosity, empathy,sympathy, mercy, nobility, all of it gone.”

The girl cringed, trying to draw in on herself even more, but Merlin tightened his grip and she could not break from his gaze.

“The Fisher King probably used this spell on his soldiers.” He mused. “But not even a magic user as powerful as the Fisher King can completely displace a soul. It has to go somewhere, has to have some sort of vessel-” He cut himself off, and gasped as the pieces came together. “That bloody chair. He used the souls of his soldiers to power that bloody chair of his and keep himself alive for so long.” Merlin’s gaze snapped back to focus on the girl, and he grinned again. “Thank you for showing me that.”

The witch cried out in fear.

“Now, normally I am not one for killing.” Merlin says, releasing the girl to stand and begins to circle her. “But these are not normal circumstances.” He cocks his head to the side. “I will give you a chance.”

The girl breathed out in a whoosh of air, and looked up at him.

He gazes down at her, smirking, before he swoops close yet again and grabs hold of her, one hand holding her wrist, the other fisting in her hair and yanking her head back. He does not blink when she cries out in pain and struggles. He says nothing, only stares, until she goes limp.

“I will give you this one chance, but know that I am not happy. You stole from me, more than you think you did, more than you will ever know, and I want it back.” He murmured in her ear. “So, tell me where the rest of my soul is, and I will let you go.”

She looked at him wide eyed. He smiled, she shivered because it looked almost kind.

“That is right. I will let you go, escort you to the border myself, and as long as you do not set foot or plot against Camelot ever again, you will never see me. But.” He appended, yanking her hair to make his point clear. “If you do plot against Camelot, if I see you here again… if you do not tell my what I want to know…” His voice took on a sing-song quality. “Well, we will just have to see, will we not?”

She stared at him. Her wide eyes searching the room for help, for anything.

“I, I think the rest of your soul… i-is in the Fisher King’s throne.” She stuttered at last. “I d-did not send it anywhere specific s-so I think…” Merlin released her, stepping back to let her fall to the floor unsupported.

“So, you believe the rest of my soul was sent to the Perilous Lands because that was the last place the souls were held?” Merlin asks. The girl nods frantically. Merlin hums a bit in consideration, before nodding. “That sounds reasonable. Guards, would you please take this girl to the dungeon.”

The guards at the doors looked at each other before shuffling forward, around Merlin, to pick the girl up and carry her out of the room.

“Wait, what are you doing?” The girl cried out, struggling in the guard's grip. “I told you what you wanted! Why are you doing this?” She shrieked as she was dragged away.

“Wait.” Merlin called, holding up a hand to stall them. He strode closer. “You are going to the dungeon to wait. If what you said is true and I come back from the Perilous Lands with my soul whole, then I will keep my word. You are being held, just to make sure.” He pauses, and then asks. “One more question. Where are the Fisher King’s books of magic? Specifically the one with this spell in it.”

She looked at him defiantly for all of a second before she looked away and answered. “In the vaults underneath his keep. There is a secret passageway that is marked by a trident carved into the stone on the second floor main corridor near the tower.”

“Thank you.” Merlin gestured at the guards to take the girl away. When the door closed, he turned his back on it to face the still flabbergasted court. “Well, my lord.” Merlin said cheerfully, looking at Arthur and grinning once more. “I request some time off in order to piece my soul back together, if that is alright?”


	3. Q and A part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin wakes up early to get some work done.

Merlin was waiting in the stables when Agravaine walked in.

“And where” he said, sliding out of the shadows, causeing Agravaine to jump “are you off to at this time of the morning?”

“You have no right to question a lord-” he tried blustering, but trailed off at Merlin’s dark stare. “Why are you here?” He sneered instead.

“Trying to prove a theory.” Merlin answered, eyes searching. 

Agravaine snorted.

“A few years with a physician and suddenly the commoner is a scientist. Well, what is this all important theory that has you up out of bed before the sun, or the whole of Camelot?”

“You know, it’s wonderful, what a lack of empathy does for one's thought process. Makes things so much more plain. I’m sure I would have gotten there eventually but everything is so much clearer now. Why are you in Camelot?”

“You speak of clear thought but you ask questions you already know the answer to. I am in Camelot because Arthur called me.” He said patronizingly.

“No, that is your excuse, not your reason.” Agravaine looked confused so he decided to elaborate. “On a hunch, I went digging through Arthur’s family history and I found you and your brother. Your lives were given to Ygraine” Agravaine paled with fury at this common boy using her name “as a wedding gift and were promptly shipped off to an estate never to be heard from again. When she died your brother fought Uther but you don’t have the skill.” And that hurt. It hurt because it was true. Agravaine had never been the best swordsman to start with and in recent years…

“Is there a point to this?” Agravaine bit out.

“Yes, that is the question. Is there a point to you being back in Camelot.” Merlin looked at him and the expression could have been pity if it weren’t for the ice in that dark gaze. “If I had been in your position, and the son of the man who had killed both of my siblings asked for my assistance I would have respectfully declined, well I would have before.” The boy smiled, a dark thing. “But now, but you, you see opportunity. This kingdom should have been yours. It should have belonged to your family not that upstart Pendragon and his spawn.”

“And why shouldn’t it!” Agravaine finally cried. “It is mine by blood.” Getting control of himself, he continued. “But it is also Arthur’s by blood. However much I dislike his father does not negate the fact that Arthur is still my sister’s son.”

“Your dead sister. Whom he reminds you of. Whose kingdom you are leaving even when her son asked you to look after it while he helped me recover my soul because this whole incident has sent Uther back in his recovery. ” Merlin countered. He then paused and produced a scroll. “But you play a long game to get what you want, don’t you?”

Agravaine was now eyeing both him and the scroll with suspicion.

Merlin smiled.

“I want you to deliver this to Morgana-”

“I have no idea what you are talking abou-”

“To Morgana.” Merlin continued firmly, daring Agravaine to contradict him again. “With my compliments. I’m sure you are going to tell her what has happened and I want to add my own accounting to the mix.” Merlin waved the scroll at Agravaine, and unsettled, he took it.

“You won’t tell anyone?” He seemed highly suspicious, as he should.

“We all have our games to play.” Merlin shrugged. “But know that I will find out if she has not read it. It will be easy to tell. So let us both continue our games for a little while, yes?” Merlin’s smile was that of a wolf sighting an easy meal, and with that imagery firmly lodged into Agravaine’s head he quickly saddled his horse and left the stables.

Merlin watched him for a moment before saddling Sir Leon’s prefered mount. The man in question entered the courtyard a moment later.

“Merlin, I was sent to find you seeing as you weren’t in your room. Why is my horse saddled, you know I cannot go with you.” Leon looked perplexed.

“Lord Agravaine has ridden for the darkling wood to carry a message to Morgana,” He paused for Leon’s gasp “You need to follow him and find out where she is hiding. Don’t do anything but find them and come back and keep this all under wraps until Arthur returns.”

“Merlin, I cannot sit back and do nothing if I find Morgana, and while I may find Agravaine personally distasteful there is no reason to think-”

“Leon.” Merlin interrupts. “The longer we talk the further away Agravaine gets. You do not have enough power to challenge a Lord, let alone Arthur’s uncle, in your own right and this may be the only time we have to find Morgana. I know Arthur entrusted Camelot to both you and Agravaine but I am entrusting Arthur to you.” And they both knew how much that was worth. 

Before Leon was aware of it he was in the saddle.

“Find her, for all our sakes.”


	4. A Darkling Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leon, Morgana, and Morgause all learn some interesting facts, plans are made, and Agravaine wonders about the repercussions of not texting back.

Agravaine rode through the Darkling Wood as if a hound from hell was at his heels. Leon was hard pressed to keep track of him and grateful for all of Arthur’s tracking lessons. He kept well behind Agravaine and found himself a good vantage point from which to see what was going on when the lord turned off the path. 

Leon watched as Agravaine made his way up to a small, ramshackle shack and knocked on the door.

“My Lady,” Agravaine called “I have the most interesting news.” The man seemed almost nervous, and he kept fiddling with a scroll in his left hand. 

Leon silently tied up his horse and crept closer. He watched, startled, as Morgana opened the door to the hut and glared Agravaine inside.  _ Merlin was right. _ He had to know what was going on. Carefully, so carefully, he crept through the underbrush and made his way towards the hut. Finally settling outside the window where he could peek through the slats.

He saw a cauldron over a fire pit in the center of the small room and some plants hanging from the cieling that must have been the ingredients for potions. Agravaine was standing on one side of the hut while a disheveled Morgana seated herself next to a battered, but still alive, Morgause. Both sisters were staring at Agravaine impassively as he stuttered out his news.

“Such wonderful things to report my ladies.” Agravaine began, bowing to both of them. “A young witch is being held in Camelot right now…”

“We must get her out immediately!” Morgana cried.

“Oh, but that is the interesting thing, my Lady. She will not be put to death.” At this Morgana faltered. Morgause sat up from where she had been lying and speared Agravaine on her gaze.

“Well, why is this girl being granted clemency? Hurry up Agravaine.”

“Oh, because their  _ Majesties _ gave her punishment to Merlin,”

“Out with it already!” Morgana shrieked. “Why would they do that? And why wouldn’t Merlin go ahead and kill the girl? He’s stood by before.” She added bitterly. Morgause put a hand on her sister’s shoulder, but did not take her eyes off of Agravaine.

“The whole story, my Lord. Now.” 

So Agravaine told the pair all that had happened the previous night in detail.

“So, this soulless Merlin may be an ally to us.” He said winding down. “He knows that you and I are working together--”

“What?!”

“But he won’t tell because, and I’m quoting here, ‘We all have our games to play.’ he also gave me this message to give to you about the events of last night.” Agravaine held out the scroll to Morgana who looked wary but intrigued. However, before she could take it, Morgause set the paper ablaze.

“Even if he is soulless, he has proven time and again to be meddlesome and now it seems he is even more ruthless,” Morgause said. “We cannot trust anything he has to say and it would be for the best if Agravaine stop coming here, at least for a time, so that Merlin’s suspicions will not gain traction with the rest of Camelot.”

“They are fools, all, anyway and no one listens to Merlin so it will be easy enough for you to dispel the rumors if you are careful, Agravaine,” Morgana added, back to her haughty self.

“Of course, I will be the soul of discretion.” He bowed to them both again. Morgause lazily waved him away, effectively dismissing him.

Leon only barely had time to get around to a different side of the hut before Agravaine was stepping back out into the forest gloom. The man made his way quickly to his horse and rode off. Leon was about to leave himself when he heard Morgause comment:

“Sister, I believe we should away to the Perilous Lands.”

“Yes, with that throne we could make you well again.”

“And you a Queen. It is not Camelot, but it is a place steeped in magic that, according to that witch, needs a powerful magic user to tame it. Who better than you and I to put it to rights, and then from there to take back Camelot and have Magic reign once more!”

Leon, feeling incredibly ill, moved silently back to his horse, untied it, and then galloped all the way back to Camelot. Only in the back of his mind did he mark the way to the hut, the rest was taken up with the horror roiling throughout his entire being. 

The first words he got out as he raced into the castle courtyard was a cry to Arthur’s knights to mount up. Gwaine had already gone with Arthur and Merlin, but Lancelot, Elyan, and Percival took one look at his face and his flagging horse and sprinted to the stables, kitchens, and knights quarters to prepare. Leon barely even noticed as he was pulled down off his horse and ushered inside. He didn’t register anything until Lancelot caught his attention.

“What happened?” the man asked, calmly.

Haltingly, Leon told Lancelot what he had seen and heard. Lancelot looked more and more grim with every word until finally he had run out of words. Lancelot clasped him on the shoulder.

“We’ll take it from here. We’ll keep them safe.” He vowed.

‘I’m going too-”

“No.” Lancelot cut him off. “We need someone here who knows what’s going on and can lead the knights. Arthur put you in charge and Merlin trusted you to keep a level head about this until we all came home. We need you here.” He smiled at Leon sympathetically. “I know that it's hard to stay behind but you are the only one who can.”

And that took the wind out of every argument Leon had. Grudgingly, he let them all go and watched as they mounted up and left the courtyard.

“Where are they going?” Agravaine asked, coming up beside him.

“We got news that Morgana was seen at the edge of Essetir, I sent a patrol out to check.” Agravaine seemed to accept this answer, distractedly commending him on his diligence before heading back inside.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Meanwhile, Agravaine was distracted, caught up with the question.  _ How would Merlin know if Morgana had read his letter? _


	5. Darkness Burning Bright

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur, Merlin, and the Knights are in the woods on a quest. Three guesses what happens.

The ride towards the Perilous Lands was uneventful…. Too uneventful. After Elyan, Percival, and Lancelot had caught up to Arthur, Gwaine, and Merlin, greetings had been exchanged and excuses made for joining the quest.

“Morgana is still out there, Sire.” Lancelot pointed out. “She could see this small party as a perfect opportunity to attack you.”

“Or it could be a perfect opportunity to sneak into Camelot again with most of my best knights away!” Arthur argued back.

“No, she would want to kill you first and dump your body in front of everyone so that they know there is no one coming to save them,” Stated Merlin. That shut everyone up and the party moved on.

The knights were on edge, jumping at every rustle of leaves, wondering if another sorcerer with hidden magic would pop out of the bushes to rip out their souls. The mood was not at all helped by the strange aura that seemed to surround Merlin. He was silent and focused and… dark. No one wanted to break the silence and draw his attention. They all knew that he would be different, that he was different now, through no fault of his own, but that didn’t stop him from being… off-putting.

 

“Perhaps we should stop for the night?” Arthur suggested. All of the other knights latched on to the idea.

“Yeah, it is getting dark out,” Said Elyan.

“True, true, soon it’ll be too dark to see.” Put in Gwaine who was already dismounting, but keeping an eye on Merlin at the head of the group. Merlin paused for a moment before sliding from his horse and leading it off the road into a nearby clearing. He set about silently doing the camp chores, seeming to not notice the unnatural quiet that surrounded him.

“Now, I’m not normally one to pay too much attention to feelings…” Lancelot hesitates, looking around at the knights caring for their horses. They all looked up. “But I’m certainly having conflicted ones about Merlin right about now.” All of the others followed his gaze to Merlin who had moved on from his horse and started a fire. “He’s doing everything he would normally be doing-”

“Except talking.” 

“Yes, thank you, Gwaine. But even the animals seem to find him unnatural. Listen.” And all of them were silent once more as they listened to the sounds of the forest. Well, the lack of sound because there was nothing beyond the shifting of their horses and the crackling of the fire to meet their ears.

That is, of course, the moment when a group of bandits and mercenaries decided to storm out of the  forest and attack the group. The fight was brutal, every time a knight cut down a bandit two more poured out of the trees. Arthur kept many of them back, he seemed to know where they were coming from before they did, it was as if he could see it before it happened. However, that made his movements more jerky and uncoordinated as he tried to counter moves that had not been made yet. Even with luck and skill on their side the knights were eventually overwhelmed. They were chained together with manacles to a few sturdy trees. The manacles were heavy and had strange symbols on them, and appeared strong despite their wear. Not even all of them working together could break them out.

“Well, well, what do we have here? A prince and his dogs?” Sneered the man who was undoubtedly the group's leader. Well, he probably always sneered due to a nasty gash in his upper lip that pulled it away. The man was dirty, covered in scars, and stood half a head taller than Arthur which was rather annoying. 

“I’m sure we’ll get a good ransom for them.” Said another man, shorter and stockier than almost anyone else in the clearing.

“Who needs a ransom? We have all we need right here!” Laughed another one, skinny this time. The man had Gwaine’s water skin, and it had to be Gwaine’s because it actually contained mead, and took a healthy gulp, before grinning and saluting the knights. The other men took their cue from this one and sat down around their fire and began talking as if it were any other day. Well, for them it probably was.

Arthur was just glad that Merlin got away.

Soon enough the bandits bedded down for the night. Either they felt secure or Arthur and his knights lost to a pack of idiots because they did not bother posting a guard. After about an hour had elapsed Merlin popped up out of the foliage where he had been hiding and picked his way through the camp. He stopped when he got to the scarred man and eyed him carefully before kneeling down beside him and groping around his waist. When he finally found what he had been looking for her raised his hand so that Arthur and the other’s could see. The manacle keys.

The knight’s gave their silent praise to Merlin as he resumed his careful crossing towards them. Arthur again marveled at how silent and graceful he now appeared to be. He was almost to them when a shadow rose up behind him.

“Merlin!” Arthur shouted, but he was just a second too late. The leader had grabbed Merlin around the throat and was holding him off of the ground. Merlin scrabbled at his hands and beat his arms but the man would not budge. He closed his hands tighter around Merlin’s windpipe until he subsided.

“Well, it looks like we missed one boys!” The man called, waking the others.

“We ain’t gonna get a ransom for that one.” The skinny one said sleepily. Arthur did not think it was possible to feel this much hatred for someone he did not know. He was wrong.

“No, you’re right. But he is pretty isn’t he?” Arthur revised his thought, hatred was too kind for what he was feeling right now. The man was grinning lecherously in Merlin's face. Arthur could feel his insides boiling and his eyes burning and his skin prickling as he was forced to listen to this. He was slightly vindicated when Merlin spat in the man’s face, but it promptly turned to fear as the man roared. “You whore! If you think I’ll let you get away with that you have another thing coming!” He dragged Merlin further away from the knights and towards the fire.

“No!” Arthur shouted, images of Merlin in flames dancing in his mind.

“Oh, yes.” The scarred man chuckled. “Grab some rope, tie him up!” One of the other men held Merlin’s legs together as the stocky one tied him up, and then they did the same with his arms. Merlin was almost unconscious by the time they had finished so the man slapped him to wake him up. “I want to make I can hear you feel this, pretty.” Merlin’s eyes were cold, ice cold. They unnerved the man so much that instead of holding him over, he dropped Merlin into the newly stoked fire.

“Merlin!”


	6. Burning Revalations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> out of the frying pan and into the fire... and back out of the fire and maybe into a worse fire?

Arthur and all of the knights cried out in horror as Merlin was dropped into the blaze. They watched as their friend fell to his knees in the flames, unable to hold himself up and were forced to watch as he screamed in pain.

“Merlin!” Arthur cried out once more, tears plain on his face, even plainer in his voice. Merlin writhed in the fire and screamed once more, but this time the sound was slightly different. Merlin’s yell was deeper, more forceful and had a measure of… intent behind it. The fire blazed higher than should have been possible, completely consuming Merlin, hiding him from view until he was only a shadow.

 

The bandits had backed away in fear, first at the screams and then at the unnatural way the fire had flared up. They looked around suspiciously, as did the knights, certain that some sort of magic was at play.

“Morgana?” Lancelot called out. “Is this your doing?” He tried to sound strong and confident, but Merlin was burning and no longer screaming and he could do nothing.

A tired sigh was heard. It came from the fire.

The inferno moved. It swirled and shifted, circling around the figure standing calmly within it. There standing before them all dressed in rich clothing the colors of the flames, with only the slightest dusting of ash, was Merlin. He seemed ignorant of the fire still licking around his ankles as he stepped out onto the grass. He would have looked bored if not for the dark intent the bandits could see present in the golden glow of his eyes that had yet to abate.

“You know, I’m tired.” He drawled, looking over the horrified bandits and dumbfounded knights. “I really, really am. I get beaten, burned, tied up, knocked out, blasted within an inch of my life, all to protect the people I care about. I have to watch my kin die because they are too gods damned stupid to realize that their revenge helps no one, not even themselves.” He continued, volume increasing. “I have waited and I have prayed and I have taken some rather shoddy advice now that I think about it, and I have stayed my hand more times than I can count. I have acted when I should have waited and kept silent when I should have spoken. I am tired.” He turned to the knights and raised a hand, doing a little flipping motion with his wrist as his eyes flashed a slightly brighter gold.

Lancelot was not proud of the way he flinched but felt slightly justified in his fear of a soulless Merlin who had reached the end of his patience. Instead of any horrible, violent punishment, the cuffs simply fell off of his wrists, as well as Arthur and the others. He rubbed his wrists and stood up warily, unsure if he should keep an eye on Merlin or Arthur. Arthur got to his feet as well, but seemed as unsure as Lancelot, warring with himself over this newfound knowledge. Lancelot could tell that he was going back over their various adventures in his mind and making new connections, but he could not tell what conclusions Arthur was drawing, nor how Merlin’s soullessness would factor into those conclusions. Lancelot hoped for his friends’ sakes, for Camelot’s sake, that the conclusions would fall on Merlin’s side, but he didn’t know what he would do if they didn’t.

“You- you can’t do that!” One of the bandits cried, drawing everyone’s attention. Seeing that he had an audience, the man shrunk in on himself but continued anyway. “Those manacles were enchanted against magic, you can’t just magic them open. How did you do that?” The man was slightly hysterical. Merlin bent down and picked up one of the manacles, examining it almost absently.

“Was this your work?” He fingered the designs idly. “It’s rather shoddy. Some of the runes are almost worn through. I wouldn’t be surprised if a hedge witch could get out of these.” He tossed the manacle aside, but waved a hand in its direction, erasing all of the runes off of the metal. It appeared that the runes were the man’s work, because he let out a strangled whimper that any craftsman knows means that a painstaking effort has come to nothing.

Elyan almost felt a pang of sympathy for him. Almost. The man seemed to pull himself together to launch a rather pathetic attack against Merlin.

“Astrice!” He cried.

“Really?” Merlin waved his hand, dissipating the other man’s magic with a sigh. “Sorcerers these days. I at least have to hand it to Morgause, she knew what she was doing and had some actual power to throw around. This is just sad.” With one more put upon sigh, Merlin threw all of the bandits backwards. Some of them smacked into trees with a sickening crunch, others, luckier ones, landed on the ground or in shrubs. About half of them got up.

Thoroughly spooked, the half who got to their feet nearly lost them again in their haste to make their way away from the clearing and the warlock therein. Merlin laughed loudly as he listened to them shout and scramble through the undergrowth.

“I’ve wanted to do that for ages!” He said, turning back to the knights with a manic grin. He went to sit around the bandit’s fire, what was left of it, anyway, and looked up to the knights seemingly waiting for something. The knights all looked at each other warily before joining him around the fire, which was much more like embers at this point. Everyone jumped back as Merlin snapped his fingers and the campfire blazed once more. Merlin smirked and waited until they settled once again before flipping his wrist and snapping his fingers. “Bærne.” The knights jumped higher this time as all of the bodies of the dead bandits went up in their own column of flame, burning away to nothing in an instant.

Everyone was silent for a long… long time. Even the animals. Merlin, whose eyes had returned to black, seemed faintly amused and content with the silence. Eventually, Arthur shifted where he sat. All eyes snapped to him.

“So,” He said, voice hoarse, tear tracks still clear on his face. “You have magic.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, gals, and nonbinary pals. Guess what? I'm not dead! I know it's been forever since I've updated, and I make no promises about the speed of my next chapter either, but I'm still here, still writing, and still in love with these dorks.


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